


ELITE

by ohtumns



Category: (여자)아이들 | (G)I-DLE, BLACKPINK (Band), SEVENTEEN (Band), Stray Kids (Band), TWICE (Band), The Boyz (Korea Band), X1 (Korea Band)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:20:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25379770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohtumns/pseuds/ohtumns
Summary: This is heavily inspired by the Spanish hit series - ELITE, a story about upperclass high school students and the mystery that surrounds their school. This story mentions suicide, murder, attempted-rape so please don't proceed if you're uncomfortable. This is purely a work of fiction and in no way are my personal feelings reflected in this story. I am trying to keep this to a two-parts story so the next part will most likely be the end (unless I end up writing more than I intend to).
Relationships: Cho Seungyoun | Seungyoun/Jennie Kim | Jennie, Jeon Wonwoo/Kim Chungha, Jeon Wonwoo/Minatozaki Sana, Lee Juyeon/Seo Soojin, Lee Minho | Lee Know/Seo Soojin
Comments: 4
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is heavily inspired by the Spanish hit series - ELITE, a story about upperclass high school students and the mystery that surrounds their school. This story mentions suicide, murder, attempted-rape so please don't proceed if you're uncomfortable. This is purely a work of fiction and in no way are my personal feelings reflected in this story. I am trying to keep this to a two-parts story so the next part will most likely be the end (unless I end up writing more than I intend to).

  
  


**_5th September, 10:00 hours : 1 week after the drowning incident_ **

Jennie bites on her freshly manicured nails nervously as she exchanges wary glances with the others along the hallway. Sana gives her a tight smile from the locker she is resting against, the worry clearly etched on her usual confident facade. Her eyes are asking if Jennie had anything to do with the fact that the police are swarming their school but the latter shakes her head slightly indicating that it is not the place and time for a conversation.

She looks down at her shaking legs - a habit she does whenever she is anxious. She stops chewing on her nails to smooth down her skirt in an attempt to also stop the shaking, but she realises that both her hands are also jittery. She closes her eyes and inhales deeply trying to count down from a hundred but somehow she has forgotten the number sequence.

She is truly a mess.

She feels someone sitting down next to her and a second later, a warm hand clasps over hers and gives it a gentle squeeze. She opens her eyes to meet Seungyoun’s soft gaze and suddenly, the world does not seem heavy on her shoulders anymore.

He laces their fingers together but doesn’t say a word. It’s enough though. His presence is comforting enough to calm her troubled heart.

  
  


+

  
  


**_29th August, 20:15 hours : 45 minutes before the incident_ **

Jennie leaned over the sink and wiped at the corner of her eye where a bit of mascara had smeared. A small buzzing sound came from her small, black clutch, followed by two more similar sounds.

She pushed the button open and took her phone out from the clutch. They were all text messages from the same person.

_I need to talk to you._

_I’m sorry about the other day. Please let me make it up to you._

_Five minutes. That’s all. I’ll be here at the pool._

Sighing, she deleted all the texts and threw the phone back into her clutch. She stared at her reflection in the mirror for a moment. At the last second, before she could change her mind, she whipped a lipstick out and reapplied the color for a quick touch up.

Just five minutes.

And she’ll be done with him.

  
  


+

  
  


**_5th September, 10:20 hours : 1 week after the incident_ **

“Jennie Kim?”

Her eyes fleet over to the young male detective who had just stepped out of the empty classroom. When he meets her gaze, he gives her a small smile and gestures for her to come in. 

She can feel everyone’s attention on her as she lets go of Seungyoun’s hand and stands up slowly. He gets up too and starts to follow her, but the detective stops him. “Sorry, we’d like to have a private conversation with everyone who was there that night. You’ll get your turn.”

Seungyoun already knew this but he nods anyway. He smiles reassuringly at her even though he has no idea what she had done that night at the pool.

Even after everything they’ve been through, he chooses to place his trust in her.

Undeservingly.

  
  


+

  
  


Seungyoun walks over to where Wonwoo is standing with Sana, who looks like she’s about to jump him with her fiery eyes. It’s usually hard to tell what is going on in her mind because she’s always wearing a smile on her face even when she’s pissed off - but right now, there is evident fear in her eyes. 

“What the fuck is going on?” Sana loves her profanities and has no qualms about letting it known. You’d think with her demure looks and elegant ways, she’d be soft spoken and sweet in every possible way; but other than her _soft_ voice and the way she dresses, nothing else about her is textbook feminine.

Seungyoun shakes his head and shrugs, letting her know that he knows just as much as she does. He watches as Wonwoo wraps an arm around her and holds her close to him. 

“I hated his guts but I sure didn’t wish for him to be dead,” Wonwoo quietly said, making sure that nobody else is listening to their conversation. “Besides, I thought they’ve declared it as suicide? Didn’t they find a note or something in his locker?”

Seungyoun scratches the back of his head. “Yeah, I heard the same thing. I don’t know why the police are back here questioning all of us. I mean, it’s not like any of us pushed the dude into the water and drowned him?”

Sana’s eyes keep darting over to the classroom, where the door had been closed to make it seem like a private interrogation room. “I’m more worried about the fact that they keep talking to Jennie about this, like they’re suspecting her of _something.”_

Seungyoun frowns. “The police said they’ll be talking to all of us. Jennie’s not the only one being cornered.”

“But she was the one who found him!” Sana hisses. “And they’ve already asked her a lot of questions that night itself.”

“But there’s nothing to worry about. She didn’t do anything.”

“I know that,” came Sana’s reply but Seungyoun notes that she doesn’t appear totally convinced. He opens his mouth to say something else, but just then the door opens and Jennie walks out with an unreadable expression.

“Don’t go far, Jennie,” the male detective is saying. “Just in case we might need to reach you.”

“Did you know that they were back together?” Sana asks under her breath, as Jennie makes her way towards them. “Her and Wooseok. Someone saw them _together_ earlier that night. Before he ended up in the water.” The way she said _together_ implies that they were doing other things and not just casually hanging out.

Seungyoun's jaw hardens but he chooses not to let his emotions show. Jennie told him that she had ended things with Wooseok and even though it wasn’t as if she had cheated on him since technically, they’re not together anymore - but it still hurts him the same to know that she had lied to him.

He knew about what happened  _ that  _ night. But he didn’t know that they had been together before the prom. He thought that was the one and only night she had met up with Wooseok after she broke things off with him.

“No. I wasn’t aware.”

Maybe, he’s better off dead after all.

  
  


+

  
  


Juyeon trudges down the stairs lazily with his bag sling over his shoulder. As soon as he reaches the foot of the steps, he’s greeted by the scene of hushed whisperings and pointed looks across the hallways. His eyes follow the commotion and when he sees the group of detectives hanging around an empty classroom, he sighs inwardly and turns back around.

He’s tired of all the attention their school has gotten as of late. Ever since the director’s son committed suicide a week ago, it has been hard to get peace and quiet in every corner he turns.

He starts to remove the headphones from around his neck and fastens them on his head, when he hears his name being called from behind. 

“Juyeon,” Soojin’s familiar face is like blinding light at the end of a long, dark tunnel. He smiles despite himself only to falter when he notices the despair look on her face.

“What’s wrong?” He asks, pausing in his step. Without a word, Soojin reaches up and tugs at his arm, pulling him up the stairs and away from prying eyes.

“Have you heard?” She asks with widened eyes, holding a tablet close to her chest while her other hand is still gripping on to his elbow. He cannot help noticing the dark circles around her tired eyes; evidence of her hard work at burning the midnight oil - something she’s fond of doing because of the fear she might lose her scholarship any second. This causes Juyeon to frown because he’s told her countless times she has nothing to worry about.

“When was the last time you slept?”

Soojin appears confused for a second but quickly shakes her head and dismisses the matter away with a wave of her hand. 

“Listen. Wooseok - he did not drown himself.”

It’s now Juyeon’s turn to be confused. “What?”

“Someone killed him.”

  
  


+

  
  


Minho saunters into the school with a yawn, before throwing smiles and winks at every passing girl right until he reaches the table in the cafeteria where his friends are seated. 

He greets them with a lazy grin and adjusts the shades up the bridge of his nose. Sana throws him a look.

“Why do you even need to wear your sunglasses indoors?”

“It’s part of my image.” He leans down to peck her on the cheek, before doing the same to Jennie, who is quick to pull away. Settling himself down on the empty seat next to her, Minho finally takes off his shades and props his elbow up on the table to rest his head on the palm of his hand.

“Did the police give you a hard time?”

“They’re talking to everyone,” Jennie replies and leans back against her chair with her arms crossed. “They were looking for you.”

Minho sits up straight and shakes his outgrown bangs off his eyes. “What do they even want from us? Didn’t he kill him - “

“Let’s drop it,” Jennie cuts him off suddenly. Minho looks around their small group and realises that the others are averting their gazes. Only Seungyoun is looking at Jennie intently but Minho couldn’t tell what is going through his mind at that moment.

“Okay,” Sana claps her hands together and quickly changes the subject, something she is really good at. “Let’s talk about what you guys are wearing to my party this weekend.”

“Is there a dress code?” asks Minho.

Sana narrows her eyes at him. “Just don’t show up in your leather tights.”

Minho lets out a hearty laugh. “But my thighs are my best asset. I have to flaunt them.”

“Not at my party, you don’t. And you only get a maximum of five glasses. Any more than that and you’ll just be a wasted drunkard.”

“How many dates am I allowed to bring?”

“None,” answers Sana evenly. “You’re going to be there as my friend and not an escort.”

“Oh, come on. What’s a party without the companion of a girl?”

“Don’t you mean girls?” Wonwoo interrupts dryly, which earns him a nudge from his girlfriend. 

“Thank you,” Minho says dramatically. “See, your boyfriend gets me.”

“Fine, you get one date.”

“I guess I can try to narrow my list down -“

“And it can only be Soojin.”

Minho’s expression darkens immediately. Sana smirks, knowing that she had hit a nerve. Just the mere mention of Soojin’s name is enough to waver his cocky exterior. The only girl he has failed to tempt to his bed. And it’s a defeat Minho doesn’t take in his stride quite well. 

It certainly doesn’t help, the one person who shares his birthdate and blood harbours the same feelings for the only girl he’s ever had serious feelings for. 

“Minho.”

Silence falls upon the group as Juyeon’s tall height towers over their table with a grim look. 

His twin turns around slowly, causing everyone to hold their breath. Because almost every single time they’re in the same room together, things will end up getting ugly.

“Mom wants to see us in her office now.”

  
  


+

  
  


“Both of you must’ve heard by now that the police has ruled out Wooseok’s death as suicide.”

At the boys’ silence, Principal Jin Ah leans forward in her seat and gravely says, “They’re investigating his death as a murder case because they have reasons to believe he was pushed into the pool that night and left to drown.”

Minho shifts in his seat as he mumbles, “Just because he couldn’t swim doesn’t mean someone killed him.”

Jin Ah turns to her elder son in surprise. “The way you said it so casually is actually scaring me. Minho, please don’t tell me you had anything to do with this.”

“Are you actually suspecting me, Mom?”

“Answer my question, Minho.”

“This actually feels like an interrogation. Do you want to see me in handcuffs so badly you’d actually think I’m capable of murder?”

“Minho!”

“Mom,” Juyeon intervenes quietly next to his brother. Minho eyes him begrudgingly but doesn’t say anything. “We had nothing to do with what happened to Wooseok. Yeah, we hated his guts - “

“Careful, Juyeon.”

“But half the school does, Mom. Even some of the teachers. You know what kind of person he was. Just because his dad owns this place, he thinks he does too. So I’m saying, if you’re worried either of us had done it, you’d best be suspecting everyone that had contact with him. That’s the whole of your senior class and half your faculty.”

Jin Ah heaves out a huge sigh and studies both of their faces carefully. 

“But they’re not my children. You are.”

“Mom - “

She holds up a hand. “I have something to ask both of you.” She pauses for a moment, trying to find the right words. “I know that Soojin retracted her statement after that incident - “

She couldn’t see it, but Minho’s fists balled up under the table and Juyeon’s face turns ashen white at the mention of the cause of both their resentment towards the dead guy. 

“But I believed her,” Jin Ah says in a whisper. “And I still do. But now, _that_ is motive - for her and both of you.”

Thick silence hangs still in the air around them. 

“You should’ve fought harder for her, Mom,” Minho says bitterly after a while. Juyeon is still at loss for words. “Then maybe you wouldn’t be sitting here, accusing your sons of murder.”

His chair makes a loud, screeching noise as he stands up abruptly and pushes away from the desk. Without another word, he turns on his heels and pulls open the door roughly before letting it close with a deafening slam behind him. 

Juyeon looks at the ground and quietly says, “Soojin can never do something like this. No matter how much she hates that person, she wouldn’t hurt a single soul. You owe her at least that much.”

He then gets up from his seat and leaves the room too, leaving Jin Ah feeling worse than before.

  
  


+

Juyeon thought Minho was long gone, but there he stands, leaning casually against a wall just a few steps away from the principal’s room. He was clearly waiting for him.

Juyeon approaches his older-by-four-minutes twin apprehensively. Things have not always been good between them. Sibling rivalry is pretty normal, but things took a turn for the worse when they started high school. Aside from growing apart, their love for the same girl strained things further between them.

As soon as Juyeon is close enough, Minho leans in and mutters in his ear, “I don’t care what you think, but you saw nothing that night.”

  
  


+

  
  


Soojin can feel the stares on her back and the hushed conversations about her as she makes her way toward her next lesson. Even after she steps inside the classroom, there is a moment of awkward silence before the talking carries on in a quieter tone.

She tries to ignore the unwanted attention, but then Yaebin approaches her desk, with her group of posse and slams her hands down on the table.

“It was you, wasn’t it?” Yaebin incredulously accuses. The light blue contacts she has on is piercing through her skin. Soojin tries to level her stare, but it’s a little hard to ignore the clump of falsies hanging off her eyelashes. If only Yaebin put in the same amount of effort into school as she did in her make up, Soojin would have had more competition for the top spot every semester.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she mumbles instead and feigns ignorance. She is not stupid. When she first heard about the police ruling Wooseok’s death as murder, she knew fingers would be pointed at her. The infamous incident during their junior year was a heavily discussed topic for almost half the year. It almost made Soojin want to quit school and skip town, if it hadn’t been for Juyeon who rallied in his mother’s support, and stayed by her side.

“Bitch, we know you still hold a grudge after Wooseok dumped you! So you killed him!”

Soojin grips onto the edges of her desk tightly. The memory she has worked so hard to forget is making its way back to her mind. _She was the one who broke up with him after what he did… or almost did… These people know nothing. They don’t know just what kind of person he was hiding behind the handsome, almost too perfect facade. Once, she was just like them too and fell for his charms. But she learnt her lesson the hard way._

“You -“ Soojin begins when they’re suddenly joined by another presence. The girls watch as Minho plops down on the empty seat next to Soojin and takes off his shades while crossing his legs. One arm slings across Soojin as he says, “Kang Yaebin, when are you going to pay me the money you owe?”

Yaebin’s eyes narrow into tiny slits as she crosses her arms indignantly. “What the fuck are you talking about? I owe you nothing.”

Minho pretends to inspect his nails as he casually says, “Money for the pills you bought from me, remember? You were desperate for it so I - “

“Shut it, Minho,” Yaebin’s voice is dangerously low but Soojin can see her pupils quivering. Even her two friends are exchanging looks with each other.

Just then another voice speaks up from behind them and the two girls take a step back to make way for the new person.

“Yaebin, darling. Green is not a nice color on you. And neither are those falsies,” Sana says with a smile that one would think is friendly enough, if not for the sarcasm dripping in her voice. “Better take a look in the mirror and fix it, will you?”

Clearly embarrassed, Yaebin shoots dirty looks at both Minho and Sana before making herself scarce. Her two sidekicks hurry after her, but not before showing Soojin their disgust. 

“Fix that attitude while you’re at it too!” Sana calls out after their retreating backs. Turning to Soojin, she pats her shoulder lightly and asks, “You okay? You know no one believes a crap that comes from that ugly mouth.”

Soojin sighs loudly. “Thanks both of you, but even if she didn’t scream it in my face, I know it’s what everyone else is thinking.” She glances around the room and sure enough people are still staring at her. “I just hope they’ll find whoever’s responsible soon. How’s Jennie?”

The question was directed at Sana, but it’s Minho who answers, “Jennie’s not saying much. Makes me feel like she’s actually guilty of something.”

Soojin expected for Sana to disagree and come to her best friend’s defense, but taking her by surprise, their reigning prom queen begins to nod thoughtfully. “She’s definitely hiding something. She denied it when I asked earlier, but I know she had met up with Wooseok before it happened.”

Soojin’s blood ran cold. She had warned Jennie countless times to stay away from the guy, especially after what happened between them. Her friend assured her that she wouldn’t make the same mistake but perhaps, even the femme fatale Jennie had been weakened by Wooseok’s irresistible charms.

A knock came on the door and Soojin heard her name being called. She looks up to see her English teacher entering the room but it wasn’t him who had called for her.

“Seo Soojin? The police would like to talk to you now.”

  
  


+

  
  


**_A year ago_ **

The first few buttons of her blouse had been torn open, exposing her cleavage. Soojin fought hard but his resistance was stronger. His lips latched on to her bare skin, kissing and sucking on every spot that he could even in his drunken state. When she tried to push him away yet again, he backhanded her across the jaw and pushed her down the bed.

Pinning down her arms above her head, he leered in close to her face and slurred against her ear, “Should’ve said _yes_ when I was asking nicely.”

Her voice was raw and hoarse from all the shouting she did earlier. The music in the house was too loud. And even if anyone had heard anything, this was his party and most of the guests were _his_ friends. 

Her phone was lost somewhere in the room when he had dragged her in earlier under the pretense he just wanted to talk and apologise for their previous fight. 

“Wooseok,” she whimpered weakly in her desperate attempt to reason out with him. “Please don’t do this. You’re drunk. I don’t want to do it when you’re like this.”

She was lying. There was no way in hell she’d ever sleep with him. Especially after tonight. She was going to get away as far as possible from him and make sure he can never touch her again. 

But he was hurting - or at least, his pride was when she told him she wanted to break things off. He had always been in control and he felt _exceptionally_ challenged when someone else had the upper hand. So she had to play this smart - until help somehow comes her way. 

His hand reached down for the button on her pants instead. She struggled to shove him away with her legs, but that only got her another slap across her face. 

Ironically, Soojin had always suspected this _physical_ side to him even though he had never shown it openly before. Whenever they got into arguments and he was really angry with her, he would hit or punch anything in sight but never laid a finger on her. She wasn’t sure if the alcohol intensified his rage or there’s a part of him that has always wanted to physically hurt her.

She closed her eyes. Perhaps if she didn’t see it happening, she could pretend nothing was wrong. 

“Get the fuck off her!”

_Juyeon._

His voice was like rain at the end of drought. Her eyes flew open just in time to see her best friend grabbed Wooseok by the shoulders and flung him across the room with little effort. Not caring if he had hurt the guy, Juyeon bent down and collected her in his arms. Soojin was thankful to be in his safe presence. She wrapped one arm around his neck while he held her close by the waist as he led her out of the room. 

For a moment, she was afraid Wooseok might gather his strength and came after them, but he simply laid on the ground defeatedly as he stared after them with a drunken gaze. 

She will never forget that night.

  
  


+

  
  


“Soojin?”

She blinks slowly and realises that she isn’t at Wooseok’s house any longer, trapped in fear. She is safe and he is gone. 

For good.

“I’m sorry. Did you say something?”

The young male detective skims through the notes in front of him before looking up at her kindly. It doesn’t seem as though he thinks she’s the killer, but maybe he’s just playing good cop in hopes she’d eventually slip something up.

“I understand you were in a relationship previously with the victim. Can I know what happened between the two of you?”

“What do you mean?” She wonders just how much he’s heard.

“Like, why did you break up and who initiated it? How long were you together?”

Soojin swallows as she smooths down her skirt and tries not to peel her nails off under the table - a habit she does whenever she is nervous. There are a couple other officers in the room, a few feet away from them and they might notice if there is anything unusual with her.

“How are these questions relevant to the case?” she asks bravely. 

He simply stares at her for a moment as though contemplating if her hesitance had anything to do with the fact she has something to hide. “These are all routine questions we need to follow up on to make sure we’re covering all angles. We’d like to seek your cooperation.”

“I was the one who ended things,” Soojin answers finally. “I wanted to put all my focus into studies for senior year and I knew I wouldn’t have the time to be dating anyone.”

“I see,” he nods and scribbles something in his notebook. “And how did Wooseok take it?”

She holds her head high and in a voice she hopes is strong and steady, she says, “As well as he could.”

“And it had nothing to do with - “ he glances down at his notes and searches for something. “ - _Juyeon_?” he asks, looking up again to meet her eyes. 

And in this moment, Soojin knows he could see the despair in her eyes.

  
  


+

  
  


Seokwoo chugs down the last bit of vending machine coffee before crumpling the empty paper cup and tossing it into the nearest bin he passes by. The time on his watch shows that it’s already thirty minutes past one and school would end in about two hours time. If he wants to wrap up as many things as possible today, he’s going to have to speed up the interrogation process.

He isn’t sure how tight-knit these kids are but so far, none of them has admitted to anything yet every one of them seems to be hiding something.

Glancing down at his notebook, he sees the name of the student he needs to talk to next. He informs the school counselor of the name and heads back to the empty classroom to wait for his 1:30 meeting.

It’s only about ten minutes later that she walks into the classroom with a fashionable cardigan wrapped around her and the heels she has on making loud clicking sounds against the floor. 

“Hello officer,” she says with a smile as she plops down on the empty seat in front of him. He isn’t sure if it was deliberate or it’s just the way she talks, but the tone of her voice sounded kind of _suggestive_ and it made Seokwoo clear his throat awkwardly. 

“Detective,” he corrects her with a smile of his own. “And you’re Sana, correct?”

“Yes,” her smile turns coy as she leans against the chair comfortably and crosses her leg. Either she really is innocent or she’s a pathological killer. “And you are _Detective.._?”

“Kim.”

She lets out a loud sigh and rolls her eyes. “Don’t I get a second name? _Your_ name?”

“We’re not here to talk about me, Sana,” he says calmly and leans forward in his seat, elbows resting on the table as he presses his palms together in front of him. “We’re here to talk about what had happened to your friend and if you know anything about it.”

“He’s not a friend.” Her answer came a little too quick and sharp. The mischievous glint in her eyes are gone, replaced with an unreadable expression which seems darker in contrast to her bright entrance earlier.

“So I take it you didn’t get along well with him?”

She averts her gaze away. “None of us did. At least, us with _balls_ to do so. Most of them here hung out with him just because he’s the director’s son. Either they’re in for the free ride and they want a favour or they’re afraid to get on his bad side and pay the hefty price.”

“Hmm,” Seokwoo nods and notes down the things she had said. “So who are the ones who don't give a shit about what he thinks?”

She raises her brow questioningly.

“The ones with _balls_?” 

At this, she lets out a small laugh which sounds like a snort but then she covers her mouth and ducks her head in embarrassment. 

“Oh, you’re funny Detective _Kim_.”

He shrugs. “Just using your words, Sana. So who are your friends?”

Without answering, she leans forward and places her hand on top of his, taking him by surprise. Her finger starts to trace the outline of his veins as she whispers, “I really believe it was an unfortunate accident. Wooseok may seem to have the perfect, clean record but I know he took drugs occasionally. Maybe he got a tad too high that night and fell into the water himself.”

He holds her gaze steadily. “He was known to be the captain of the swim team.”

Her finger stops running itself across his hand and whatever weird moment they had shared just a moment ago breaks immediately. Seokwoo blinks while she chuckles. 

“Like I said - _high the fuck out._ ”

  
  


+

  
  


Chungha dabs at the corner of her freshly applied lips before checking her reflection in the mirror for one last time. Satisfied, she tosses the gloss into her bag and smooths down her tucked in dress shirt and gets ready to head out of the toilet.

Before she could open the door, someone pushes in from the outside. The sight of the school’s self-proclaimed queen bee makes her halt in her tracks.

“Hello, Chungha.” Sana greets her as she breezes passed, followed closely by Jennie and Soojin from behind. The latter gives her a friendly smile and opens her mouth to say something, but is suddenly cut off by Sana’s voice.

“Oh, Chungha - my condolences for your loss.”

She blinks in confusion.

“Wooseok,” Sana continues nonchalantly as she leans over the counter sink and starts re-applying her mascara. “You two were _close_ , weren’t you?”

Gripping onto her bag strap tightly, Chungha says awkwardly, “We were not. I’m not sure where you got the idea from.”

She could see Sana feigning ignorance from her expression in the mirror. “Really? But I thought I saw the two of you before, talking behind the bleachers before the annual swim relay a few months ago. You looked really intense that you didn’t even notice anyone passing by.”

Chungha knows which incident she was referring to and it sends chills down her spine. Could she have overheard the conversation she had with Wooseok?

She catches Sana’s eyes from the mirror and it suddenly clicks.

_She knows_.

Chungha remains frozen in her spot, struggling to find the words to say while Sana, now done with her mascara, turns around to face her with arms crossed.

“He really got around, didn’t he?” She laughs while glancing at her friends. Jennie and Soojin exchange uncomfortable looks and Chungha wonders if they know something too. She watches as Jennie nudges Sana subtly and shakes her head slightly.

“I have to go,” Chungha says finally, her hand already on the door handle. She suddenly feels suffocated in the small, enclosed space with the three girls she had tried so hard to avoid crossing paths with - even Soojin whom she’s actually on friendly terms with.

Thankfully, no one said anything else, but the look Sana gives her just before she walks out of there is enough to haunt her for the rest of the day.

  
  


+

  
  


“What was that all about?” Jennie speaks up the second Chungha left the restroom and the three of them are alone. Soojin checks the other stalls just in case while Sana turns to face Jennie with narrowed eyes.

“None of your business. What is going on with _you_?”

“What do you mean?” Jennie questions as she keeps her eyes trained on the mirror in front of her to avoid direct contact with Sana. Soojin watches the exchange between them quietly as she hangs back and listens.

“You have been awfully quiet ever since our school became a crime scene. You didn’t even tell us what you talked about with the police.”

Jennie shrugs. “There’s nothing to talk about. I’m sure they asked you guys the same questions. How close we were with him? When was the last time we saw him? If we know anyone who holds a grudge against him.” Her eyes flick over to Soojin in the reflection.

“I told you to stay away from him.” Soojin’s voice is low yet serious. “You know what he did.”

“Nothing was going on between us, okay? We just had _fun_ sometimes. But nothing I didn’t want or he had to force on me.”

“Were you taking drugs as well?” Sana demands.

“Are you my Mom?”

Sana’s eyes widen in surprise. “You did, didn’t you? What the fuck, Jennie.”

“Jen, why did you?“ Soojin asks at the same time. 

“Look,” Jennie throws her hands up in exasperation. “It’s not a big deal, okay? I only took a couple and didn’t like it. So that’s it.” 

“I knew nothing good was going to come out from hanging out with that son of the bitch,” Sana cusses. 

“Let’s not talk ill of the dead,” Jennie deadpans, which earns her a glare from the former. Soojin lets out a soft scoff as well while shaking her head in disbelief.

“Does Seungyoun know about this?” asks Sana. 

“Are you crazy?” fires Jennie back.

“Well, maybe he should. Maybe, he’s the only one who can talk some sense into you. I don’t buy it for even a second that you’ve quit for good. Wait,” she turns around slowly and closes the gap between herself and Jennie. “Was Wooseok threatening you with this or something? Was he going to tell your father so that’s why you killed him?”

“Fuck you, Sana,” Jennie shoves the other girl hard by the shoulders, causing Sana to stumble back a few steps. Sensing the rising tension in the room, Soojin quickly steps forward and places herself between the two girls.

“Come on,” she says to her two friends. “We’re all on the same side here, okay? Nobody accuses anyone of killing anymore.”

For a moment, no one says anything. Soojin holds her breath while the other two engage in a staring competition. The school bell rings then, indicating that their next class is about to start. Soojin walks around Jennie to head for the door.

“Are you guys coming or not?”

Neither of them answered her. Instead, Jennie stands closer to Sana and in a voice barely above a whisper which sends shivers down her spine, she says the words that change the course of their friendship:

“I saw you that night, Sana. I saw you pushing him into the pool. And you just watched as he drowned. _You killed him_.”

  
  



	2. PART II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made some minor changes to the first part - in the paragraph starting with "Seungyoun walks over to where Wonwoo is standing with Sana..." to tie in the events happening in the second part better with the first. Also, I tried to keep this to just two parts but I clearly failed so we'll see.

**_29th August, 20:30 hours : 30 minutes before the drowning_ **

Jennie pushed her way through the throng of dancing bodies on the floor, completely disoriented as the image of the earlier incident with Wooseok ran through her mind.

“Hey, Jennie,” Minho called after her but was ignored as Jennie shoved past him and headed for the corner booth toward the end of the room. Confused, he let her go without questions asked and went back to dancing with a random girl he had hit on at the bar earlier.

Seungyoun, Sana and Wonwoo were huddled together, deeply engaged in their conversation to notice her incoming presence. It wasn’t until she dropped down next to Seungyoun that they stopped talking and turned their attention toward her.

“Where have you been?” Sana demanded as they watched Jennie fill her empty glass to the brim with the champagne they had ordered and took a huge swig out of it. After downing it to the last drop, she reached for the bottle again but Seungyoun was quick to slide it away from her reach.

“What the fuck?” She glared at him but made no effort to get the bottle back.

“You’d be wasted before half the night is even over,” Seungyoun told her calmly. Knowing that he was right and it was impossible to argue with him, Jennie slumped against the red leathered cushion in defeat.

“Excuse me,” Sana piped up again, clearly not satisfied that her question had been ignored. “Where have you been? I saw you going to the toilet more than thirty minutes ago but then you suddenly disappeared.”

“There was a long line,” Jennie mumbled, not wanting to get into details right there and then, especially not in front of Seungyoun. She eyed him briefly and sure enough there was suspicion on his face.

They said it’d be hard to stay friends with someone you have a past with and she figured, it was probably true to a certain extent for them.

For a while, being with Seungyoun was like an obligation. Her father is close friends with his adoptive parents and they practically grew up together. For the longest time, she believed they were meant to be together - because it was easy falling for Seungyoun and he’s always felt like home. But after a while, she met new people and wanted to try new things while he only wanted to stay in the life they’ve always known - just the two of them - and Jennie knew they weren’t on the same page anymore.

But she wasn’t ready to lose him as a friend and he didn’t seem to want to let them go either, so they chose to remain friends even though she has no idea how he feels towards her any longer.

There were a few times when they were caught up in the moment, she’d find him sleeping in her bed when she woke up the next morning. They never talked about it every time it happened and Jennie thinks he’s only keeping quiet for her sake.

“Look at our friend,” thankfully, Wonwoo broke the silence with his chin jutted toward the dance floor. Minho was having the time of his life as he held a whole bottle to himself while he danced around with at least half the girls in the room.

Sana scrunched her nose and her forehead ceased. “I’m worried he might break his bones. Principal Lee would hold all of us responsible.”

“He looks like he’s over Soojin,” Seungyoun remarked thoughtfully. “Think he’s given up on her?”

“He is heartbroken,” Sana scoffed. “That is his coping mechanism even though I think it’s pretty sad.”

Jennie shivered from the sudden blast of the air-conditioner and rubbed her bare arms in cold. Noticing this, Seungyoun took off his own coat and started to wrap it around her. But upon the sudden contact, she jerked away instinctively.

Surprised by her reaction, Seungyoun opened his mouth to ask her what was wrong, when he noticed the red marks on her right upper arm and a few spots which seemed as though nails had dug into.

“What happened?” he asked quietly and shifted in his seat so that he was facing her and also blocking Sana and Wonwoo’s view of them. She peered up at him questioningly and when he gestured towards the bruises on her arm, she quickly tried covering them up and turned away from him, shaking her head. 

She wanted to tell him about what had just happened. She  _ needed  _ to tell someone. But as much as she was desperate to let anyone in, she also feared the look in Seungyoun’s eyes at that moment. She was afraid of what he might do if he learns the truth of her frequent absence for the past few weeks and the evading of his texts and calls. 

The first time she got together with Wooseok, they all hung out together even though she knew how everyone felt about her then-new boyfriend. Seungyoun even put up a front for her sake despite reminding her again and again that he did not feel comfortable about her being with Wooseok.

Her pride had rebutted that he was probably just jealous about her new relationship and after the words left her mouth, Seungyoun had walked away and never brought up anything regarding her relationship again.

She was there when Soojin told them what Wooseok had done to her, backed up with Juyeon’s testimony. And even though she truly felt sorry about what her friend had to go through, it still didn’t stop her from kissing Wooseok that night at Sana’s birthday party. She was drunk and was in a desperate need of a hook up and it just so happened he was there for the same reasons. One thing led to another and soon enough, Jennie had forgotten about all the reasons Wooseok was bad news for her (or any other girl for that matter). 

It wasn’t until the same thing happened to her, that Jennie realised Wooseok was someone she needed to stay away from and her friends were right about him.

Unfortunately, she was stupid enough to fall for his words again earlier and thought he really wanted to apologise. She should’ve known a leopard like him would never change his spots.

“Jennie,” Seungyoun spoke again, this time his voice sounding dangerously low and threatening. “Tell me what happened.”

But he already knew because the first time it happened, it was Seungyoun’s house she had run to and his arms she had cried in. She told him everything but made him promise to just let the matter go because there was no way she’d ever let Wooseok near her again. And Seungyoun had relented because she wouldn’t stop pleading with him even though she knew how it was killing him inside to not have marched over to Wooseok’s place at that moment and teach him a lesson.

“Where the fuck is he?” Seungyoun growled and this time, their conversation caught both Sana and Wonwoo’s attention. Even Minho, who had just joined their party, was watching the two of them closely. 

“Seungyoun,” Jennie whispered and started to shake her head but he punched the space above her head causing her to flinch in surprised. “For fucks sake, Jennie!”

“Pool,” she blurted out and without waiting around, Seungyoun bolted out of the booth and headed straight for the door. Even Soojin who had just come up to them was unintentionally pushed by him. Minho swiftly caught her and quickly asked if she was okay before he hurried after Seungyoun. Seeing this, Wonwoo stood up too and followed them from behind.

“ _ Fuck _ ,” breathed Jennie, watching the boys go after Wooseok who had no idea what was coming for him.

The two girls turned to her for explanation. 

“He did it  _ again _ .”

  
  


+

  
  


**_29th August, 20:43 hours_ **

Seungyoun was fuming and he only saw red as he stormed towards the indoor pool area. He heard footsteps from behind him and Minho’s voice calling out for him but he didn’t stop. 

He pushed open the doors to the pool area and sure enough, Wooseok was there hanging out with a few boys from the swim team and having a good laugh. In his head, Seungyoun imagined they were laughing about what he had done to Jennie and that was all it took to drive him over the edge. 

Without warning, he shoved the other guy hard from behind, causing him to stagger forward. Meanwhile, both Minho and Wonwoo had caught up to him and were trying to hold him back but he was already delivering a punch to Wooseok’s face before the latter even had to register what was happening.

“What the fuck?” Wooseok regained his composure and evaded Seungyoun’s next attack in time. His other friends tried to intervene but Minho and Wonwoo quickly took care of them. It was a blur motion of fists fights and high kicks for the next few minutes before Seungyoun eventually beat Wooseok to the ground and knelt over him with one arm raised, just a punch away from hitting him again.

Minho and Wonwoo hurriedly held him back, while Wooseok’s other friends helped him up. 

“You will pay for this,” he spat as he wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand and gave Seungyoun one last, venomous look.

“Fuck, man,” Minho panted as they tried to catch their breaths. “Why would you do that? You know he only needs to say one word to his Dad and they will throw you out of the school just like that.”

“Like I fucking care.”

  
  


+

  
  


**_5th September, 14:10 hours_ **

“So you admit to fighting with the victim on the night he died?”

Seungyoun shrugs as he runs his fingers through his hair. “Sure, we fought. But he was alive the last time I saw him.”

The detective flips through his notes and hits the pen on the notepad thoughtfully. “Jennie says that you used to date. Was that why you picked a fight with Wooseok? Because you were jealous?”

Seungyoun is surprised she let the information known to the police but perhaps, she had been cornered into telling them. 

“I guess you can say that.” He isn’t about to tell the police the real reason he had gone after Wooseok that night. If he did, their suspicions would turn to Jennie because they’d think she wanted revenge for what he had done to her - just like what the whole school thinks of Soojin.

“Jealous enough to kill him?”

Seungyoun sits up straighter in his seat and rests his elbows on the desk separating him and the detective. “Look, I’ve already told you - I did not kill him. Fights are normal between teenage boys but it does not mean I wanted him dead.”

The detective does not say anything. He simply stares at Seungyoun for a moment longer before saying, “Sure, I believe you for now. But stay close and don’t think about skipping town.”

  
  


+

  
  


It is completely and eerily silent in the girl’s toilet. After Jennie’s outright accusation, nobody dared to say a word. The sound of auto-flushing from one of the cubicles snaps Soojin back to reality and slowly, she is the first to break the silence.

“What are you talking about, Jen?” she asks softly, unable to believe what she had just heard. Her eyes dart back and forth from Jennie to Sana, wanting explanation but neither of them gives her any.

“You should ask Sana where she really went, when she told us she had a call to take after the boys left to find Wooseok.”

Soojin watches in silence as Sana holds her head high and her lips curl into a smile she has never seen her friend wearing before. It doesn’t look scary. Instead, it actually looks sad and distant as she calmly turns to the mirror and starts fixing her already neat hair.

Finally, she says, “I only did what neither of you had the guts to do after what he had done to both of you. You knew, deep down, you wanted him gone. Gone for good so he would not have the chance to do the same thing to anyone else.”

“So you really drowned him,” states Jennie and Soojin realises, she had not quite believed it even after she sounded so sure accusing Sana. It wasn’t until Sana confirms the suspicions herself that Jennie realises whatever she had witnessed was true.

“He fell into the water himself,” says Sana calmly as she stands back to get a full reflection of herself in the mirror. “I only made sure he stayed in there long enough for him to stop breathing.”

“But why?” Soojin asks in a strained voice, still having a hard time grasping the new revelation. Even after the police declared his death as murder, she never would have thought any of her friends was responsible for his death. 

Sana did not immediately answer. Soojin could see the hesitance in her eyes, as though there is something else she is hiding from them.

“He knew too much.”

  
  


+

  
  


After narrowly escaping Sana’s knowing glare and the awkwardness in the female toilet earlier, Chungha rounds the corner and decides to skip her next class. Instead, she makes her way toward the school rooftop which is usually pretty much deserted except for the few occasional truants who couldn’t care less about anything else.

She finds her usual spot and throws her bag on the ground before dropping next to it. Her hand rummages through one of the bag’s side pockets until she gets what she’s looking for and takes the cigarette box out.

She barely places it between her lips and is about to light it up when a hand appears out of nowhere and swats it away.

“You said you’d quit.”

She looks up to see Wonwoo’s questioning eyes peering down at her. Sighing, she takes the cigarette out of her mouth and puts it back into the half empty box. Without being invited, he slouches down next to her and leans back against the pillar.

“Don’t you have Math now?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be taking History notes now?” he shoots back.

“You love Math. I don’t like studying.”

“You love Art,” says Wonwoo with a smile, and she finds herself returning it despite everything else. He was right. She loves drawing and getting lost in time doing it and Wonwoo knows it too.

He knows her - better than she’d ever like to admit.

And it sucks how she can’t have him all to herself.

“You should talk to your girlfriend.”

She can feel Wonwoo tensing up next to her, just like all the other times she mentions Sana’s name whenever they’re together. It doesn’t matter if they’re having fun competing against each other at PS4 games or lazing around on the couch binge-watching old movies they rented or simply enjoying the sound of the rain as they lay together in bed, in the apartment she lives by herself most of the time.

He could be holding her one minute and scrambling for his clothes the next minute every time she tries to get him to talk about Sana. She doesn’t like discussing her any more than he does but she knows the conversation eventually has to happen.

Just like how he eventually has to choose between the two of them.

“We’ve talked about this before -“

They have not. In his version of “ _ they have talked about it before”  _ Wonwoo simply told her he couldn’t bear to lose either of them and she was forced to be okay with it even though nothing is  _ right  _ about their relationship.

“ - she can never know about us. It would completely destroy her.”

_ What about me?  _ she wanted to ask. Does he not care about how it is tearing her up inside that they have to hide their relationship and how every time she sees him with her, she finds it hard to breathe as though her lungs are on fire?

“I think she already knows,” says Chungha quietly. She watches the panic in his eyes as Wonwoo shakes his head in denial.

“She can’t possibly know. There is no way in hell she’d find out about it. Unless -“ the accusation in his eyes is just a tad insulting and Chungha has had enough of his cowardice.

“I can’t do this anymore. Either you tell her, or I will.”

  
  


+

  
  


The school rooftop has been a place of escape for him ever since junior year, when he just wants to be left alone. For the longest time, he had the place all to himself (except for the occasional truants) but then since the last few months, it became a secret hideout for the pair of them too.

Minho watches from afar as Wonwoo leans in close to the girl who clearly isn’t Sana as he holds onto her hands tightly. The two of them are engaged in an intense conversation to notice anyone else around them. 

Minho sighs inwardly as he idly kicks a fallen tree branch and backs away from the spot. Perhaps, if he had told Sana the first time he saw the two of them together, she wouldn’t have done what she did that night.

_ He _ wouldn’t have done what he did. 

+

  
  


Soojin is still grasping with the truth she had just learned earlier when someone slides in next to her on the empty bench. “Are you going to finish that sandwich?” Juyeon asks but he is already reaching out for her untouched lunch. She pushes it toward him without a word, still clearly distracted by Sana’s whole confession. 

“Are you okay?” asks Juyeon as he munches on the sandwich hungrily. “Hey, I heard about the party this weekend. Are you going?”

“How are you not more concerned about what is going on right now?” Soojin exclaims as she turns to face him. She really wants to tell Juyeon about what she had heard, but at the same time she isn’t sure if it was such a good idea if more people are aware of the truth even though she trusts him to not say a word. People act differently according to situations and what Sana had done is practically murder and Soojin is afraid of what Juyeon might do with the information.

He simply shrugs. “What’s the point of thinking so much about this? Neither you nor I have anything to do with his murder so really, all we can do is just wait this out - “

She doesn’t know what made her do it but it was probably the guilt of knowing gnawing away at the back of her mind that made her burst out before she could hold herself back

“I know who did it.”

She watches as Juyeon slowly swallows his food before averting his gaze away. He uncaps his bottled drink and chugs down a good amount of it. She waits patiently for him to be done so he would talk to her and ask her questions. But to her surprise, he simply twists back the cap and pushes the bottle aside. After a long deafening silence, he finally looks up and meets her eyes again.

“Soojin, I need you to listen to me very carefully. You must not tell anyone else about what you know.”

“But it’s killing me inside to keep such a big secret. The police might want to talk to me again and I don’t know if I’d be able to pretend as though I don’t know anything when I clearly do.”

Juyeon takes both of her hands in his and holds on to them very tightly.

“Soojin, please. I know things have not always been so great between us but he is still my brother and it would destroy my mother if her son is convicted of murder.”

Confusion washes over her. “Juyeon, what - “

“I couldn’t stop it,” he goes on as though he didn’t hear her, the fear clearly evident in his eyes now. “I should’ve stopped him but I couldn’t move. Instead, I could only watch as Minho pushed him into the water and left him to drown. He could’ve swam - if he hadn’t been high from the drugs  _ my _ brother gave him. He killed Wooseok.  _ Minho killed him _ .”

  
  
  



End file.
